Chapter One: Strengthening Muscles and Bones Decoction

  The medicines of the Tianling Continent all contain spiritual power, only differing in amount and attribute. The first floor of the Lingyao Hall's medicines have only undergone rough processing and have not been refined, so their medicinal properties are relatively weak. After taking them back, you can either take them raw or decoct them into a medicinal broth to drink.

  All the medicines were categorized, either enhancing physical strength, refining internal organs, or increasing spiritual power. Nie Kong walked in front of the medicine shelves, looking at the names of the medicines on the wooden boxes, his brow furrowing tighter and tighter.

  These medicines, he had basically never heard of them, only a few kinds had some impression, but they were completely unaware of their medicinal properties. Of course, this was not the fault of the original owner of the body, as he did not have the qualifications to enter the Spirit Medicine Hall at that time. Generally, they would buy refined spirit medicines outside and be obsessed with cultivation, having no time or opportunity to understand these things. Moreover, when taking medicine in the Spirit Medicine Hall, the young man's family elders would always carefully instruct him on which medicine to find, and someone like Nie Kong who came alone without knowing what he was doing was unprecedented.

  Will today end in empty-handed return?

  Nie Kong smiled wryly, only through reasonable matching could the medicinal properties hidden in the medicine be brought out to the maximum extent. However, he didn't know the properties of the medicines now, and if he randomly picked a few to enhance his physique and went back to eat them, although there would be some effect, it wouldn't be very good, and might not even meet his requirements of one-tenth.

  "Huh, Tianxinzi?"

  As he walked up to the fifth row of medicine shelves, he saw the name of a drug on one of the wooden boxes. Nie Kong's heart skipped a beat as he finally came across a familiar medicine.

  Unfortunately, this medicine is in "demon"

  When playing games, Nie Kong's chosen profession is alchemy, and he is extremely familiar with the medicines inside. This "Tian Xin Zi" is one of them, which can be used to refine low-grade medicinal water "Jian Ji Zhuang Gu Tang". After taking it, players can instantly increase their physique by 100 points, lasting for half an hour. In the game, one point of physique represents four points of blood volume, so Jian Ji Zhuang Gu Tang is still not bad for low-level players.

  After all, this is not a game, I don't know what kind of "Tian Xin Zi" it is.

  Nie Kong's heart was slightly nervous, he took a deep breath and opened the lid to gaze inside. In an instant, Nie Kong's face involuntarily revealed joy, all of which were granular medicines, similar in shape and size to rice grains, with a reddish color on the surface. Nie Kong picked up one grain and placed it in his palm for close inspection, soon discovering that the pattern on its surface was exactly the same as the "Tian Xin Zi" from the Demon Spirit Game.

  "Too good."

  Nie Kong's spirits lifted, and he grabbed a handful of medicine, wrapping it in the white paper beside him. He continued to search through the medicine box. Although he didn't know if the "Muscle and Bone Strengthening Broth" from the game would work in reality, Nie Kong was now desperate enough to try anything. Even if it couldn't enhance his physique, it wouldn't harm his body; after all, the herbs here could be consumed directly.

  Butterfly Orchid! Crystal Lotus Seed Pod!

  After walking through most of the medicine shelves, Nie Kong found two more medicines in the "Muscle and Bone Strengthening Broth" formula, leaving only one last medicine, "Red Devil Flower". During this time, Nie Kong also saw dozens of other medicines that appeared in the Demon and Ghost game, but he didn't need them for now.

  Glancing around, Nie Kong cast his gaze towards the last two rows, where "Mildly Toxic" and "Highly Toxic" were prominently marked, obviously containing poisonous medicinal properties.

  Nie Kong walked up to the shelf of "mildly toxic" medicines.

  "Red Devil Flower!"

  The name of the medicine in the third box came into view, Nie Kong let out a breath of relief and opened the box to grab two handfuls. According to the rules of the Lingyao Pavilion, even if it was only one catty of a single medicine, as long as there were no more than five types of medicines and the total amount did not exceed one catty, it would be fine.

  He grabbed four packs of medicine and came to the front of the bald old man by the door.

  The old man still looked half-dead, pinching the small medicine bag from under his nose and continuously reporting the names and weights: "Tianxinzi, two taels... Xu Hu Die Cao, two taels... Shui Jing Yu Lian Zi, two taels..."

  The old man finally raised his eyelids, with a hint of surprise in his eyes, clearly not expecting Nie Kong to grab the medicine so accurately. He didn't know that this was something Nie Kong had cultivated over more than 20 years in his past life. After a slight pause, he picked up the last package of medicine and said: "Red Devil Flower, four taels."

  When he said the three words "Chi Mo Hua", the old man looked at Nie Kong again, but didn't say anything else. He put down his medicine bag and began to doze off again.

  Nie Kong bowed slightly, picked up the medicine package and the token, and left the main gate. After exchanging greetings with Nie Qingfeng, he hastily headed home, feeling somewhat impatient.

  ……

  In the kitchen, Nie Kong sat in a large wooden tub filled with hot water, with nine golden needles stuck on his body. His face was faintly visible in the steaming mist. Hua Mei squatted in front of a small medicine stove at the door, her small hands lightly waving a fan, occasionally turning back to look, her cheeks flushed and slightly shy.

  "Sister-in-law, it's time to take your medicine."

  Nie Kong's voice sounded, and Huamei hastily picked up the medicine pot on the stove, walked to the bucket, and her cheeks flushed even more. With a shy face, she lowered her eyelids, and with a forceful movement of her jade-like hands, the scalding hot medicinal liquid poured out of the pot's mouth, flowing continuously into the bucket, as red as blood. In an instant, it had dyed the entire bucket of water bright red.

  Add one or two liang of Tianxinzi, one or two liang of Xiangjiacao, one or two liang of Shuijingyulianzi, and two liang of Chimonanthus. The medicine brought back by Nie Kong can be decocted twice.

  At this moment, Nie Kong's skin had been scalded red by the hot water.

  As the medicinal liquid was poured in, Nie Kong quickly rubbed his fingers on the Tian Zhen acupoint, causing a violent vibration of the orifice. The spiritual power spread out like ripples in water, and all 36,000 pores on his body opened instantly. The red medicinal liquid suddenly seemed to come alive, entering Nie Kong's body from all sides through the pores.

  Golden needles rapidly trembled, the medicinal power of Jianjiu Decoction slowly seeped into his muscles and bones. The hot water in the wooden barrel gradually faded in color, through the spread of spiritual energy throughout his body, Nie Kong could even clearly feel his atrophied muscles slowly expanding, his loose skeleton continuously hardening.

  The Muscle and Bone Strengthening Soup is indeed effective!

  Nie Kong's heart was stirred, as the three medicines - Tian Xin Zi, Xu Hu Die Cao and Shui Jing Yu Lian Zi - if taken separately, would have their medicinal properties partially converted into spiritual power, while some of the medicinal properties would dissipate without being fully utilized, with only a slight effect on enhancing his physique. However, when combined with Chi Xiao Lan to brew the "Jian Ji Zhuang Gu Tang", the medicinal properties did not convert into spiritual power, nor were they wasted, and almost all of it was absorbed by Nie Kong's muscles and bones.

  The spiritual medicine of the Tianling Continent is basically related to cultivation, and spiritual power can almost cure all diseases. Once encountering a situation like Nie Kong's where spiritual power is ineffective, they are at a loss. There is no concept of "targeted treatment" here, just like the medicines that Nie Kong had been taking for over a decade, which could all be used for spiritual cultivation. The medicinal properties are now attached to his meridians, extremely powerful, and if Nie Kong absorbs them himself, his physique will indeed gradually strengthen, but most of the medicinal properties will eventually still transform into spiritual power, and won't have an obvious therapeutic effect like "Muscle and Bone Strengthening Broth".

  Treat the symptom and prescribe the medicine is not just a casual saying.

  After about half an hour, the remaining medicinal power was absorbed into the body, and the water that had been dyed red by the medicine returned to its clarity. At this time, there was not much heat left in the wooden barrel, Nie Kong did not get up, continued to vibrate the golden needle, dispersing the medicinal power, allowing them to blend more closely with the body.

  Another half hour passed, the water bucket had completely cooled down. Nie Kong's eyes opened, and with a smile on his face, he took out the nine golden needles from his body and placed them on the stove.

  "Good, good, good tonic for muscles and bones!"

  Nie Kong smiled with satisfaction, pinching himself all over his body. The muscles on his chest, legs and arms bulged slightly, and the skeletal marks on both sides of his ribs were no longer so obvious. He lowered his head to take a look in the water, and the sunken eye sockets and cheeks had become much plumper.

  Nie Kong now looked completely different from his frail and gaunt appearance just an hour ago.

  ——————————————————————————————————————————————

  Hua Mei was waiting outside, getting a bit anxious, and finally saw Nie Kong's figure walking out of the kitchen. She became stunned, her red lips slightly open, her eyes wide with unbelief.

  "Sister-in-law."

  Seeing her staring blankly with a dumbfounded expression, Nie Kong couldn't help but smile.

  "You... you're Uncle?"

  She said with a flower-like brow, her eyes moving back and forth on Nie Kong's body, the incredulity on her face gradually replaced by surprise and excitement, and she cooed, "Really is Uncle, you really are Uncle, so quickly become strong." The corners of her eyebrows were all rippling with an uncontrollable smile.

  Jianhua's eyebrows rose in delight, and Nie Kong couldn't help but smile as he said, "Sister, after soaking in that medicinal bath three days later, I'll be almost back to normal." The second time absorbing the effects of the "Muscle and Bone Strengthening Broth" was definitely far from this time, but for Nie Kong, it was enough.

  "Mmm."

  Hua Mei circled around Nie Kong, turning back and forth excitedly, nodding repeatedly as if admiring a rare treasure. The events of the past few days were like a dream to Hua Mei - first, Nie Kong's death and resurrection scared away Wu Tong and others; then he used those nine golden needles to cure his own illness; next, his cultivation which had stagnated for ten years suddenly advanced to Gathering Spirit Third Grade; and now, thanks to that "Muscle and Bone Strengthening Soup", he had become robust.

  It's really amazing!

  If she hadn't spent three years with Nie Kong and witnessed his awakening, she would have thought that her uncle had become a different person. Now, she finally didn't have to worry about Nie Kong suddenly collapsing and passing away, and Hua Mei's heart became exceptionally relaxed.

  The bright and cheerful smile made Nie Kong's heart feel warm, such a good girl, absolutely cannot let Nie Feng that bastard succeed. If Nie Kong still had some worries on the day he just woke up, now he is fearless. Since the potion in the demon game is effective, a "Muscle and Bone Strengthening Broth" recipe is completely comparable to a bottle of "Rejuvenating Dew". This "Muscle and Bone Strengthening Broth" has little use for spiritual masters above Tongling, but for Lingzhu, especially for children who have just started practicing spiritual power, it is absolutely a rare and precious spiritual medicine.

  ……